England Women celebrated their regaining of the urn on Thursday by winning the final match in this year’s Ashes series today at Chester-le-Street.

Australia rounded off their disappointing tour of England - one that started so promisingly in the Test match - with a poor batting performance as they were held to 91 for seven from their 20 overs. England then recovered from a poor start to their run chase to win by seven wickets with 22 balls to spare.

Lydia Greenway and Natalie Sciver were the batting stars, adding an unbroken 78 for the fourth-wicket after their side had slipped to 14 for three. Greenway followed up her record-breaking exploits two days ago by finishing on 35 off 34 balls, while Sciver continued her impressive series by top-scoring with 37 off 44 balls.

Sarah Coyte had given Australia hope earlier in spite of their batting failure. She had player of the series Heather Knight caught behind third ball and then removed the prolific Sarah Taylor in her next over. With Holly Ferling then bowling skipper Charlotte Edwards, England had lost their big three and Australia would have sensed a chance. That was until Greenway and Sciver got going.

Australia had earlier struggled after losing the toss and being asked to bat. They lost Elyse Villani to Katherine Brunt for a duck in the opening over and never really recovered. Meg Lanning top-scored with typically fluent 32 off 29 balls, but only three other batters reached double figures as Australia struggled to hit boundaries.

Danielle Hazell took two for 20, while Brunt (1-14), Jenny Gunn (1-22), Sciver (1-7) and Danielle Wyatt (1-8) were the other wicket-takers.

Edwards reflected on what her team had achieved shortly before receiving the Ashes, saying, “This is my third Ashes success but probably the proudest of them all after the disappointing winter we had. To come back the way we have is really pleasing for us all. We have now beaten the World Champions in the ODI and T20 formats in England and I am thrilled that everyone has contributed during this series and that is extra special.”

She also had praise for the new management team led by Paul Shaw: “After the disappointments of the winter a few players were low on confidence but the management have believed in us and been there to encourage us every step of the way. The management deserve great credit.”

Sarah Taylor added: “Paul Shaw followed Mark Lane who was the most successful women’s coach in English cricket history and that was a tough act to follow. He has a knowledge and enthusiasm for the game that rubs off on you and the whole team wanted to do well for him and the rest of the management team.”